The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has accused politicians who previously benefited from President Bola Tinubu’s support of abandoning him when he declared his ambition to become Nigeria’s president in 2023.
Mr Yilwatda said several politicians from northern and southern Nigeria withdrew their support despite what he described as the president’s longstanding contributions to national unity and political cooperation.
He made the remarks on Friday at the APC national secretariat in Abuja while receiving politicians who defected from opposition parties in Sokoto, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kano and Plateau states.
“People that he has supported all through from the North and South, when he said he wanted to contest, most of them pulled out their support,” Mr Yilwatda said.
He argued that Nigerians who recognised Mr Tinubu’s political record eventually rallied behind him during the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu’s political alliances
Mr Yilwatda cited several elections in which he said Mr Tinubu supported northern politicians, arguing that the president had consistently prioritised national unity over regional interests.
He said Mr Tinubu supported former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition in 2007 because he believed power should shift from the South to the North.
The APC chairman also said Mr Tinubu supported former presidential candidate Nuhu Ribadu in 2011, when he contested under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
In 2015, Mr Yilwatda said, Mr Tinubu backed the late President Muhammadu Buhari, arguing that power should return to the North following the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
He further credited Mr Tinubu with helping to reconcile political interests in support of Mr Buhari during the 2019 presidential election.
Mr Yilwatda said these actions demonstrated the president’s commitment to political stability and national cohesion.
APC defends Tinubu’s record in the North
The party chairman also rejected criticism that Mr Tinubu’s administration had done little for northern Nigeria.
He pointed to major road and rail projects, including the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road and the Kano-Maiduguri road, as well as proposed and ongoing rail connections involving Kano, Maradi and Kaduna.
Mr Yilwatda argued that such projects demonstrated the administration’s commitment to infrastructure development across the country.
He also criticised opposition politicians over their economic proposals, questioning the feasibility of a reported promise to sell petrol at a discounted rate of N500 per litre.
According to him, implementing such a proposal would cost the government about N20 trillion annually, a figure he said would place considerable pressure on the national budget.
He also questioned the opposition’s record on privatisation, citing the sale of public industrial assets under previous administrations.
Opposition figures join APC
The remarks came as the APC welcomed new members from opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
A party member, Princess Aslam Aliyu, said she had brought 12 ADC House of Assembly candidates into the APC about two weeks earlier.
She subsequently presented 11 additional House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates who had defected from the two opposition parties.
Ms Aliyu described the defections as evidence of growing confidence in President Tinubu and his Renewed Hope Agenda.
The APC’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, also rejected claims that the ruling party was seeking to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
He said the party’s growing membership reflected its political activities and organisational strength.
The latest defections come as political parties begin positioning themselves ahead of the next general election cycle, with the APC seeking to consolidate its national support base.
